


exactly where we're supposed to be

by quibbler



Series: fitzsimmons in the future [4]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-04
Updated: 2014-07-04
Packaged: 2018-02-07 11:07:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1896747
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quibbler/pseuds/quibbler
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He decides he won't say anything to Jemma, but he leaves his daughter's room with a smile eating his face nonetheless.</p><p>In which Fitzsimmons consider expanding their family.</p>
            </blockquote>





	exactly where we're supposed to be

**Author's Note:**

> Let it be known that I don't know or really care to know much about pregnancy, but I did do some research about prenatal development and all that.
> 
> Beta'd by the always wonderful Océ!

The bedroom, though clean a mere three days ago, is now littered with toys and drawings, and Fitz spies the chemistry set on the desk, a smile creeping onto his face. "Time to tidy up, monkey, and then off to bed."

Sophie pouts but only for a moment, beaming at her father. "I'm reading about _chlorophyll_ and what plants do, Daddy," she declared, before closing the book and placing it on her nightstand. "Can you help me, please?" She looks up with hopeful eyes and Fitz can't resist grinning before he nods, and the two of them quickly pick up the paper and stuffed animals. Sophie quickly changes into her pyjamas and Fitz suppresses another grin when he sees that she's chosen the overly large t-shirt with a drawing of a chimpanzee on it. He thinks he might not mind so much if she goes into animal science instead of biology or chemistry or engineering of any sort.

He watches her climb into bed and slide under the covers before he sits down on the edge of the bed to tuck her in. "You're far too old for me to read you a bedtime story, aren't you?" he teases, and somewhere in the back of his mind he remembers that his daughter is about to turn four which isn't old at all but feels like forever.

"I'm not _old_ , Daddy," she says, giggling. "Do you want to know why I had my toys out?"

Fitz furrows his brows. "Go on, Soph."

"Well, I was having tea with Mr. Paddingsworth," she starts, inclining her head toward her largest bear, a vacant, faint smile on its face, "and his mates. Oh, and Lizzie!"

He wracks his brain and can't come up with an image of a stuffed toy named Lizzie. "Who's that, darling?"

"Oh, she's a baby so she doesn't drink much tea. Maybe she could be my little sister!"

The look on his daughter's face is so blithely unaware of her father's inner turmoil that Fitz just manages a smile as he leans down to kiss her forehead. "It doesn't quite work like that, love." Sophie frowns and opens her mouth to speak but Fitz shakes his head, completely unwilling to have any discussion of that nature. "Not now, Soph. Some other time, maybe, but not now. You have to go to bed and Mummy and Daddy have to sleep so they can go to work tomorrow."

The little girl nods, yawning. "Okay, Daddy. G'night." Her eyes close and Fitz reaches to turn the light off. He decides he won't say anything to Jemma, but he leaves his daughter's room with a smile eating his face nonetheless.

\-----

Jemma stares at the mobile in her lap for a full ten minutes before she picks it up.

_To: Skye  
So, I have news._

_From: Skye  
If it's about boring science stuff, count me out._

_To: Skye  
I'm expecting again._

She braces herself for a full two minutes--far longer than she expected--when her mobile starts going off, vibrating like mad in her hands and she nearly drops it before she can pick it up. Jemma is about to say hello when all she hears is a loud screech that goes on for what feels like ages and might actually contain words if she was equal parts brave and stupid enough to listen, wincing because she thinks she might have temporary hearing damage in her right ear now. "Are you finished yet?" she asks, making a face.

"Well, _excuse me_ for being so freaking excited that you're going to pop out another kid I can be a bad influence on," Skye replies, and Jemma can almost hear the shit-eating grin in her friend's voice. "Congratulations! How far along are you?"

"Nine weeks," she replies, biting her lip. "I don't want to jinx anything. D'you think--"

"--don't even go down that path, Simmons. Everything will be fine this time, I can feel it."

She makes a small noise in partial agreement. Jemma has her reasons for waiting a month and a half before saying anything to anyone and she thinks it should be safe now that some time have passed. "Okay, I believe you. I haven't even told Fitz or Sophie yet, so you're the first to know besides my Mum and Dad."

Jemma can almost hear her friend smirking on the other end. "Holy shit, I can't _wait_ until you tell Fitz. He's gonna freak."

\-----

The car ride to the ultrasound appointment is mostly uneventful, barring a call from their daughter to Jemma, who tries her best to answer all of Sophie's inquisitive questions. Fitz grins as he wraps his arm around his wife's waist as they walk up the stairs, trying not to be too protective but failing miserably. "Soph's got your brain," he muses out loud, a goofy grin on his face. Jemma turns to look up at him and sticks her tongue out.

"She takes after both of us, Fitz, don't try to convince me otherwise." She smiles but it morphs into a small frown and Fitz leans in to kiss her between her brows. "Don't you think it's a little too soon for me to be showing this much?" One of her hands ghosts across her abdomen and it's his turn to frown.

"I don't think there's anything wrong, Jem, if that's what you're asking."

She chuckles and pulls back, the smile back on her face. "I'm sure you're right. Now, do you think we're having a boy or a girl?"

They keep up a steady stream of conversation that even the technician has difficulty interrupting until the first image appears on the screen and Fitz suddenly goes silent, staring in awe and quite a bit of confusion. "Jemma, you're not allowed to explain what we're seeing," he warns, and he sees her jaw snap shut out of the corner of his eye. He squeezes her hand in thanks and squints at the screen. "Okay, so there's the blob..." Jemma snorts.

The technician smiles. "Do you see the heartbeat? Just there," and she points to the screen with a finger and Fitz's throat seems to close up so he only manages to nod. "Ahhh, Jemma, I think we were right last time," she adds, and Jemma looks watery eyed as Fitz looks at her in confusion.

"Right about what?" he asks, and he looks up at the screen right as something shifts. "Is that... Is that a _second_...?" He seems to lose all ability to speak and Jemma unexpectedly bursts out laughing.

"Oh, Fitz, I'm sorry," she splutters, catching her breath. "I didn't want to say anything in case I was wrong or something happened, but... Yes, it's a second," she answers, chewing her lip. Fitz nods, swallowing hard as he looks back up at the screen. "Fee, could you please tell us the sexes?"

"One boy, one girl, I think."

Fitz turns away as he starts tearing up and Jemma laughs again, the sound bright and loud as she presses her lips to his hand.

\-----

Sophie bounds across the room, two stuffed dogs spilling out of her arms. "Mummy, I think I want the babies to have these."

Jemma beams at her daughter, taking the toys and placing them in the growing pile of supplies. She spies Coulson's handwriting on several notes attached to packages and she wonders how much more he'll buy before the baby shower even happens. "Thank you, sweetheart. We'll have to wait to give them these because they'll be very small at first and these toys will be much too big." Jemma looks up as Fitz appears at the doorway with three mugs, a dopey grin on his face as he carefully sets them down on the coffee table. "Do you remember how big you were in the pictures Auntie Skye showed you?"

The little girl nods, a serious expression on her face. "I was _tiny_ ," she replies solemnly, before smiling brightly as she leans in to press her cheek to her mother's stomach. "Your belly is so big--oh! One of the babies kicked!"

Jemma chuckles, looking up at her husband with a pout. "I haven't seen my feet in ages. Do you know where they went, by chance? I was quite fond of them."

Fitz laughs, pressing a kiss to her temple as he sits beside her on the couch. "They're still attached, I'm afraid." She takes the proffered mug and makes a thankful noise before blowing on the steaming tea. "There's hot chocolate for you, monkey, though I can't understand why you want it in the middle of April."

Sophie takes her smaller mug with a huff. "You both drink hot tea all year, so why can't I have hot chocolate whenever I want to?" Fitz shrugs his agreement, and Jemma knows her daughter's argument is sound enough for being so young--besides, her husband is a pushover with Sophie. "Are you comfortable, Mummy?" Sophie asks, taking a sip of her drink.

Jemma nods, trying not to roll her eyes at either her daughter or her husband. Her family has gotten to fussing over her every move and while she loves them both ever so dearly for it, sometimes she wants to walk around the house without one of them following her. "I'm fine, darling, but thank you." Sophie smiles and nods once before running back off to her room.

Fitz presses a kiss to Jemma's cheek and she turns to look at him, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. "What?" He shakes his head and sticks out his tongue at her and she laughs. "I married a child."

He grins, resting his cheek against her hair. "Bloody right you did," he teases, before he starts fidgeting again. "I hope we've got everything for the nursery. There needs to be double of everything--"

"--Fitz, there are still two months to go--"

"--and that means nappies and pacifiers and the whole lot--"

"--we've got plenty of time, stop fussing--"

"--but two months is nothing! Before we know it, they'll be out in the world--"

"--oh, _God_ , don't remind me, I have to push them out of here, if you don't remember--"

There's a giggle from behind them and Jemma quickly turns around to see Sophie holding a big book over her chest. "You and Daddy always do that."

Jemma laughs. "We always have, love. Now, come here and let's read a story, shall we?"

 

\-----

"Oh, Fitz, do you really have to do this right now?"

The exasperation in Jemma's voice makes him flush slightly but he nods resolutely, making minute adjustments to each pair of lab glasses. He takes a small screwdriver and quickly tightens the bolts before straightening and crossing the room to wrap his arms around his wife's shoulders. "It's tradition," he declares, grinning. "Sophie's got her own, so why shouldn't the twins?" Jemma rolls her eyes and he lets her go, scooping up his project. "I'm going to the nursery."

She sighs loudly at his announcement but follows him out anyway, her arms crossed over her waist as he whistles mostly to himself. The nursery has two smaller cribs to one side and one big crib near the window where the twins are currently, with Sophie trying to dangle a stuffed monkey over the bars. "Look, babies, this is a monkey! Daddy calls me monkey, so I don't know what he'll call you two. If we're all monkeys, that will be very confusing."

Jemma laughs and their daughter looks up at them, beaming. "Mummy, I've been very careful with them," she says, and Fitz grins.

"I've got presents for the two of them," he whispers to Sophie, smiling as he shows her the glasses. "Do you still have the set I gave you when you were a baby?"

Sophie nods. "They're on my dresser. And I have the ones Mummy gave me for my birthday. I'm going to get them now!" She races from the room and Fitz just barely remembers to tell her to be careful before she's already bounding back, glasses in hand.

He gives her a thumbs- up and walks toward the crib, two tiny pairs of eyes following his motions. Thomas' brown eyes and Rosalind's blue (so much like his own, he thinks, and he beams down at the pair of them) are trained on his face. He takes the tiny glasses and places one pair on Rosalind, making sure the strap that will hold them on is snug but not uncomfortable before setting her down carefully. Thomas makes more of a fuss, not willing to stay still long enough, but Fitz gets the glasses over his head somehow. When he pulls back and looks down at the babies, he grins widely and turns to Jemma. "Look at the little future scientists!"

She chuckles, approaching the crib and quickly snapping a photo on her mobile. "Daddy's so silly, isn't he?" she coos toward the crib. "I've an idea, hold on," she says, rushing out of the room.

Fitz blinks in the direction of the door, bewildered before he turns back, a smile on his face. "Soph, we get to teach them how gravity works and how to view a slide under a microscope, and then they can choose a field they like--"

"--like animal behaviour!" she pipes up, wrapping her arms around his legs.

"Yes, like animal behaviour," he repeats, ruffling her curls. There's a sound behind him and he turns his head to see Jemma there, holding out his lab glasses, her own pair already on. "Are we taking a family photo?"

"Like you'd expect anything less," she replies, and he grins, kneeling down on the floor and Sophie wraps her arms around his neck. Jemma gets the camera ready and crouches down, making sure she gets everyone in the shot. "Okay, say 'monkeys'!" She takes the photo and then turns to smile at Fitz and he grins back, wondering how he got so lucky. "A silly one or four?"

Sophie nods, giggling, and Jemma holds the mobile back up, to take one, two, three pictures when there's a cry from behind them. Fitz whips his head around right as Jemma does and all they see is Thomas wailing at the top of his tiny lungs and Rosalind's lower lip quivering. "Oh, no, little ones, I think it's time for lunch!"

**Author's Note:**

> The twins' names are Thomas Apollo and Rosalind Artemis. I really wanted a set of matching middle names from mythology and I love the twin archers, but the babies will grow up and wonder why the hell they were saddled with those names. Thomas is named after Thomas Edison, famous inventor and businessman; Rosalind is named after Rosalind Franklin, a biophysicist and X-ray crystallographer who made the initial discovery of the structure of DNA. It's incredibly bizarre to refer to them with nicknames like Tommy and Rosie so I didn't do that here, but I imagine that Fitz and Jemma would wait until they were old enough to decide if they liked the nicknames. (Partially because Rosalind Franklin was referred to as "Rosy" in patronising terms in James Watson's book The Double Helix, and she never used that moniker.)
> 
> In my mind, the big crib is made of some sort of clear, child-safe polymer because if they can have a holotable in the Marvel universe, they can have slightly more aesthetically-appealing cribs. I also think that Fitzsimmons wouldn't enforce gender stereotypes from the get-go, so the nursery is probably pastel green or has kind of nerdy wallpaper, and the onesies are generally not solid colours, though something tells me that they go all out for Halloween costumes for babies, too.
> 
> (Birthday notes! I haven't mentioned this before, but Sophie's birthday is sometime in spring, and the twins were born in winter closer to February.)
> 
> I imagine in the last scene that the final photo shows the babies crying so that's why they turn around (or Jemma accidentally snaps a photo of them turned around to look at the crying twins) but that translates very poorly in a fic. SO.
> 
> Fitz is actually a child. I cannot rid myself of the image that Jemma often walks around shouting "I MARRIED A CHILD. I AM RAISING FOUR CHILDREN." You're welcome for that image.


End file.
